Annual Operators Seminar Trade Show

Attendees, exhibitors & solutions

Who this event is for

Industry trends

Key trends shaping this market and its wider industry.

Market news

Latest updates from across the market.

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A range of accommodation options near the venue and across key areas.

Local transport

Get around the city with these convenient transport options.

Frequently asked

Glossary

1

Coagulation and flocculation

Two linked steps in surface-water treatment: coagulation adds a chemical such as alum or a polymer to destabilise fine particles, and flocculation stirs gently so those particles clump into floc that settles in a clarifier or is caught by a filter. Operators tune dose and mixing energy against raw-water turbidity, which is why jar testing is a recurring seminar topic.

2

Turbidity (NTU)

A measure of how much suspended material scatters light in a water sample, reported in nephelometric turbidity units. Filtered-water turbidity is one of the most closely watched numbers in an Alberta treatment plant because it signals both filtration performance and pathogen risk.

3

Free and total chlorine residual

Free chlorine is the active disinfectant remaining in water; total chlorine also counts combined chloramines formed when chlorine reacts with ammonia or organics. Distribution operators track residuals at the plant outlet and at sampling points across the network to hold a disinfectant residual all the way to the last customer.

4

Disinfection by-products (DBPs)

Compounds such as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids that form when chlorine reacts with natural organic matter. Utilities manage them by removing organics upstream and balancing disinfectant dose against contact time, a trade-off that shows up in both treatment and distribution sessions.

5

SCADA and telemetry

Supervisory control and data acquisition: the control system and remote terminal units that let a small crew monitor and operate pumps, valves, reservoirs and unmanned lagoon or lift station sites from a central screen.

6

Membrane bioreactor (MBR)

An activated sludge process where membranes replace the secondary clarifier to separate treated water from biomass. It produces high-quality effluent in a compact footprint, but membrane fouling, cleaning cycles and air scour demand different operator routines than conventional settling.

7

Biosolids

Treated wastewater sludge that meets quality criteria for beneficial use, most commonly land application. Stabilisation, dewatering and metals and pathogen monitoring make up a large share of the wastewater operator's compliance workload.

8

Inflow and infiltration (I&I)

Stormwater and groundwater that enters sanitary sewers through cross-connections, cracked pipe, deteriorated manholes and service connections. High I&I forces treatment plants to handle flows they were never sized for, especially during spring melt in mountain communities.

9

Lift station and wet well

A pumping facility that raises wastewater so it can flow by gravity toward the treatment plant. Wastewater collects in the wet well, where level controls start and stop pumps; plugged pumps, grease and odour are everyday operator problems.

10

Hydraulic retention time (HRT)

The average time water spends inside a treatment unit, calculated from volume divided by flow. Clarifiers, chlorine contact chambers and lagoon cells are all sized on retention time, so HRT explains why the same process behaves differently at low winter flow and at spring snowmelt.

11

Lagoon system

A common low-tech wastewater option for smaller Alberta communities: aerated or facultative ponds that treat sewage through settling, algae and bacterial activity over long retention times. Winter ice cover, spring turnover and sludge accumulation dominate how these systems are operated.

12

Cross-connection control

The backflow prevention programme that keeps potable water separated from non-potable sources inside buildings and across the distribution network, using air gaps, reduced-pressure assemblies and testable devices that must be inspected on a set cycle.